"Marjorie of the Weirdlings" Preview!

So, here’s a 6 page preview of my latest adventure. A comic called “Marjorie of the Weirdlings”, that will be premiering the weekend of October 28th at MEGACON TAMPA!

But now onto the content of page 6. This is the page that establishes Marjory as transgender. The page I expect to get some poop over.

When designing the character, I realized early on that she had to be trans. I was putting a LOT of my childhood frustrations, identity and anger issues on the page wrapped in an otherwise fun, magical adventure. But I quickly realized that Marjorie was me. But a me that was able to come out and live as she knew she should decades before me.

I agonized over the exact verbiage she should use in her narrative. I wanted her descriptions to avoid specific labels or politically correct press release speak. She's a 13 year old transgender girl, not a political activist. Nor am I trying to have her description fit into any one sub groups agenda by using specific buzz word definitions.

Ultimately, I wanted her description to seem fitting for a kid that knows what she is but has a hard time finding the words to express that. So I used the verbiage that felt natural to ME when I was thinking about myself at that age.

I understand that there are some folks that will take issue with her describing herself as being born with "boy Parts" as that is not the currently accepted terminology. It implies that the shape of our genitals is automatically gendered. I GET all of that. But for the life of me, I couldn't justify having that kind of philosophical tightrope walking coming out of this characters proverbial mouth.

When I was still struggling with myself in this, I wasn't thinking in such terms. I still partly don't. I, as a 41 year old trans woman, don't think of what is between my legs as female anatomy regardless of my ever strengthening gender identity. I have decades of reinforcement in the opposite direction to overcome. So, for me, I wanted Marjorie's thoughts to mirror my own from he point of view of a very young person trying to express very mature concepts. I felt that her thoughts and experiences in this area needed to be honest.

So, if her specific verbiage upsets you, I am sorry. But I had to be honest as a writer and write truthfully for my character. Life is a never ending journey of self-discovery and this character is on that same journey.

If the book finds an audience and continues past this first issue, then I will have the time to explore this aspect of her and allow those ideas to evolve. But I do hope you can understand why I'm expressing this concept as I am choosing to.